How important is your g.p.a

allnurses Guide · Aug 23, 2009

I absolutely ask for transcripts and take notice of GPA when I am hiring staff who have no work experience in the field they are interviewing for. It is not the whole picture, but it does give an indication both of the ability to learn and the desire to work hard.

shynurse · Aug 23, 2009

I am definately going to put my all into my classes this semester. I may have to end up working part time so that i can have the extra time necessary to allow for more studying and research needed to do well. At the begining of nursing school we were told that we couldnt hold down a full time job & attend school but i've done it in the past with no problem. I now know what they were speaking of, some people can get away with it but my grades are suffering as a result of it.

biblepoet · Aug 23, 2009

I have spent most of my nursing career with 3 small children and I have done decently but right now sit only with a 3.51 and my husband has been transferred two states away. Anyhow hope my gpa is good and I will get an opportunity to explain that I did my best.

wyotech · Aug 23, 2009

when is the last time you asked a nurse or even a Dr, what their gpa is before you let them do anything. NO one cares unless your in school still.

NewGradRN09 · Aug 25, 2009

My hospital (in NJ) required a 3.0 to be considered for a job. They also required a copy of your transcript.

Good luck!

Bug Out, BSN · Aug 26, 2009

My hospital (in NJ) required a 3.0 to be considered for a job. They also required a copy of your transcript.
Good luck!

This seems to be a popular move in a lot of healthcare systems. I have noticed many hospitals are requiring a GPA standard for all the new grads.

After your in and get experience no one will care but getting into something may be a challenge.

I_See_You_RN · Aug 31, 2009

Yes. i did a little better than previously. I am not making excuses but i've heard that Associate degree RN courses are alot harder than Bachelor degree courses. Have u heard that also or is it the opposite? No matter what the case may be i have the ability to perform much better than i have in the pass and i am truly looking forward to living up to my statement

- I really don't think that the ASn vs. BSN test thing is true. I think maybe the only difference is that I've had 2 extra years to test take and get in the hang of studying then an ASN graduate and also I take a wider range of classes that does go towards my nursing degree without it being technically medical. Either way GPA does matter. As for "whats the difference between a C nurse and an A nurse" as someone said previously,.. I think the difference is that the A nurse will get a new procedure right the first time while nurse C will take a couple tries. Will nurse C get it,.. yeah,.. but historically it appears that she doesn't get it the first time usually.

I do however believe that GPA is more or less just about getting your foot into the door. Its the deciding factor of wether they are gonna call you back or not after they've seen your resume. But after that, as a GN, they don't focus on book knowledge during the interview anyway. Its all about how well you work with others, your usual mood, and how u work under stress.

Good luck,.. and if you find it hard to get in the door maybe just take over some of those classes.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2009

I absolutely ask for transcripts and take notice of GPA when I am hiring staff who have no work experience in the field they are interviewing for. It is not the whole picture, but it does give an indication both of the ability to learn and the desire to work hard.

I once hired a nurse who had numerous degrees all with honors and I can honestly say she was the worst nurse I have ever had the misfortune to hire.

I know lots of really good floor nurses who work hard and just scraped by in their exams. I think if you want to go on to further education in nurses you need good GPA's to access but I do not think to be a floor nurse you need to graduate with honors from the program.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Aug 31, 2009

I once hired a nurse who had numerous degrees all with honors and I can honestly say she was the worst nurse I have ever had the misfortune to hire.
I know lots of really good floor nurses who work hard and just scraped by in their exams. I think if you want to go on to further education in nurses you need good GPA's to access but I do not think to be a floor nurse you need to graduate with honors from the program.

I agree, because grades on a transcript are too arbitrary a thing to use in judgment of someone's worth as a nurse. That transcript doesn't tell you that my father had an MI a week before one exam, and a stroke before the next.

They also don't tell you whether I know "come here" from "sic 'em" clinically.

I_See_You_RN · Sep 1, 2009

I once hired a nurse who had numerous degrees all with honors and I can honestly say she was the worst nurse I have ever had the misfortune to hire.
I know lots of really good floor nurses who work hard and just scraped by in their exams. I think if you want to go on to further education in nurses you need good GPA's to access but I do not think to be a floor nurse you need to graduate with honors from the program.

I agree that you don't need to graduate with honors to be a good staff nurse, however, if I were a patient I wouldn't want a nurse who consistently only retains 70% of the information provided to them or who can only explain 70% of the basic facts related to my medication regimen. I have no experience in hiring and I do not know all the multitude of things NR's look at, but from a laymans point of view I would rather hire a mostly B nurse with got 1 F which brought down her GPA significantly because that would mean there is something specific that I could work with her with, than someone who consistently scores around the C mark. Though life's trials and family situations have a lot to do with someone's performance it also shows their ability to adapt quickly, remain composed, and how well they can re-evaluate their current situation and search for new options. If work/family was getting in my way I wouldn't wait till the end of the semester/year to make a change...As soon as my second test confirmed that I would I was doing something wrong I would be searching high and low for a better option.

Harping over the past also doesn't help much. So I say don't get yourself down,.. just be positive, make some changes and use these last semesters to prove that you do have what it takes. And when u begin interviewing just be honest and reiterate to the recruiters that you learned from this year.

Good luck,.. you seem very motivated so I'm sure things will work out for you:up:

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 2, 2009

when i interviewed for a med surgical position no one asked about gpa. on the other hand, every time i interviewed for an ed position i was asked about gpa and had to produce my transcripts. thus, it depends on the person interviewing you for the job! fortunately for me, i was a good student in my adn program and continue to be in my rn-bsn program. however, i still believe that "c" = rn.

the reason being, i know too many average students that turned out to be good new grads. for some reason when they started working they worked and studied harder then when we were in school. it happens. of course, having a c average will limit them when they try to move on with their education (if they choose to do so... some are not interested) or if they try to move into a specialty area, where the hiring manager cares about gpas. for example, the local icus and eds in my area are picky so much so they refused to hire techs with low gpas and hired non-techs and outsiders (new grads from other areas) with high gpas as rns.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2009

From what I've seen on the floor, a lot of hospitals are pushing nurses who are ADN to become BSN, and BSN to become MSN. That's when the GPA becomes important, because it determines who will let you into their program.